The sport of go-kart racing is well-known in the art and enjoyed extensively throughout the world, particularly in the United States and Europe. Along these lines, a significant number of organizations and associations are dedicated to promoting the sport of go-kart racing, whether it be amateur or professional. Exemplary of such organizations include the World Karting Association, which establishes rules and procedures for the sport of go-kart racing and conducts annual championships for various types of karting, and the International Kart Federation, which has been actively involved in governing the sport of karting since the 1950's.
In this respect, the sport of go-kart racing has tremendous appeal for both children and adults, irrespective of driving skill level. To address such need there is a wide variety of go-karts are commercially available, ranging from yard karts or fun karts, which are basic go-karts made for fun and recreation, to high performance go-karts that are provided with specialized accessories and designed for competitive use. With respect to the latter, go-karts may be specially configured for use in a variety of applications, such as off road use or drag racing.
Despite such versatility, however, virtually all go-karts essentially have the same type of frame construction. In this regard, virtually all go-karts typically include a miniaturized frame, which is typically configured to seat a single driver within very close confines, that is mounted upon four small-radius tires and driven by a small horsepower engine, such as those produced by Briggs and Stratton of Milwaukee, Wis.
Such frame design, however, is well-known to create significant spatial constraints that substantially minimize the driver's ability to maneuver within the vehicle. Similarly, such frame design is known to prohibit or fail to accommodate any type of additional equipment to enhance the safety and operation of the go-kart. As a consequence, conventional go-kart construction presents a considerable risk to drivers to the extent the go-kart is ever involved in any type of collision, whether it be with another go-kart or stationary object. In this respect, by virtue of the miniaturized frame design, most karts typically lack any type of safety apparatus, such as air bags, reinforced framing, and the like. Moreover, to attempt to include such safety apparatus as part of the conventional go-kart design would detract from the sport by substantially increasing the size and weight of the go-kart.
On the other hand, it is likewise not practical to attempt to utilize what little space is afforded within the frame of the go-kart insofar as to include additional safety features can substantially interfere with the driver's ability to properly maneuver the vehicle, obstruct the driver's vision, or otherwise cause the driver to assume an awkward or uncomfortable position. In this regard, it is well-known that conventional safety gear, such as full motocross attire utilized in the sport of motorcycle racing, is far to bulky and substantially interferes with the driver's ability to drive the go-kart. Such problem particularly exists with the use of protective jackets and the like that are operative to provide protection completely about the arms, chest, back and ribs of the driver. Despite the extensive coverage provided by such racing jackets, the ability of such jackets to interfere with the driver's ability to drive the go-kart can even pose a greater risk in potentially causing an accident than to provide protection in case of an accident. As a consequence, because of such shortcomings associated with providing proper safety for the drivers of go-karts, especially with drivers involved in competitive go-kart racing and the like, a significant number of injuries, and even fatalities continue to frequently occur.
Accordingly, there is a substantial need in the art for a safety mechanism, and in particular a safety device that can provide the driver of a conventional go-kart with a substantially enhanced degree of protection from injury that does not interfere with the driver's ability to drive the go-kart and likewise does not interfere with the spatial confines of the go-kart frame within which the driver is seated. There is additionally a need in the art for such a safety device that is of exceedingly minimal construction, simple and easy to use, inexpensive to manufacture, and capable of being readily implemented by go-kart drivers for use while driving virtually all existing types of go-karts.